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ELTTL 2018/19 - Week 7 Report

28/10/2018

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After a successful week in the Handicap Cup it was back to League action in Week 7 of the Edinburgh and Lothians League with all seven of our teams due to play. 
 
Team 1 saw Greig McDonell return in place of Colin Green as he joined forces with David Melrose and Iain Johnstone in their Division 1 home match against Corstorphine 1. On paper this looked like a tricky match, the Corstorphine team having been relegated with Team 1 from the Premier last season. The visitors were without Amjad Mohammed, replaced by Chris McCathie, but their side was strengthened from last year by Stan Stoodley, who although registered last season, had hardly played. On the night, however, despite some flashes of good play from the visitors, the home trio proved far too consistent and ran out 10-0 winners.
 
Also in Division 1, Team 2 faced a trip to Edinburgh University 2 – only their third match of the season. Gary McDougal, Charlie Brindley and Krzysztof Laszkiewicz were looking for their first win of the season and the University showed the depth of their pool of players with a completely different trio turning out from the dangerous team who had played against Team 1 a couple of weeks ago. The home team’s Asa Routledge proved the difference on the night with three straightforward 3-0 wins and a doubles victory. At 5-2 down the visitors caused a little panic with wins in matches 8 and 9 but couldn’t quite pull off the draw as the fell to a 6–4 defeat. Krzysztof won 2 whilst Gary and Charlie somewhat annoyingly both defeated different opponents as they picked up one each. 
 
Team 3 have had a slow start to their Division 2 campaign with a postponement and a free week so they faced only their 4th match of the season against Corstorphine 3. James Wighton, Ian Hislop and Abby Wighton looked like they were in for a difficult night as Ian struggled over the line in match 1 with an 11-9 win in the fifth whilst James slipped to a 3-1 defeat. From there, however, the home side seemed to find another gear losing only 2 more ends as they raced to a 9-1 victory. Team 3 face 4 matches in 14 days from the 2nd of November – we will know by the end of that period whether they are title contenders or not! 
 
Team 4 have also had a few weeks off and it was good to see them back to winning ways in Division 3 as they travelled to Edinburgh University. Julian and Sonny Taylor were joined by Tony Brentnall and they were never troubled after winning the first round of singles matches 3-0. In fairness to the Uni side, 3 matches on the night went all the way. Sonny lost out 13-11 in match 5 whilst Julian crept over the line in match 9 with a 12-10 in the fifth victory. The visitors also enjoyed an 11-9 in the fifth victory in the doubles. 3 wins for Julian and 2 each for Tony and Sonny saw Team 4 record an 8-2 win. The win sees the Penicuik side jump into the top half of the table but they may still rue two 6-4 defeats to the top two in the Division when promotion is up for grabs at the end of the season.
 
Wednesday night saw the first derby match of the season in Division 4 as Team 5 faced Team 7. A couple of unexpected changes for both sides saw Craig drop out of Team 5 and Hannah drop out of Team 7. Craig was seemingly unable to play due to his wedding anniversary – really?!! After ten years of marriage his wife was seemingly still more important than TT – who says romance is dead! Hannah, on the other hand, allegedly had a guides event to attend, however, there is a suspicion that she’s maybe picked up on her dad’s habit of trying to protect her average!!

John Bald, Millie Bennett and Stuart Bennett therefore faced George Wilson, Phil Daly and Kristian Skotzen in a match which went all the way to the fifth end of the last match of the night before victory was secured. The result turned the way of Team 5 in match 4 between Millie and George. Having defeated John in match 1 by an 11-9 in the fifth scoreline (accompanied by George’s, by now renowned, yelp of joy) it looked like he could be the deciding factor on the night if he won his three. 11-7 and 11-6 in the first two ends and Millie looked dejected and down and out. Perhaps George relaxed a little too much and suddenly the match was alive again with two 11-9 wins resulting in a fifth end being required. Millie got off to a cracking start and changed ends at 5-2 up. Back came George though and from 10-8 down he drew the game level at 10-10. Many would have buckled, but Millie proved she is made of strong stuff as she secured a brilliant 12-10 win. She went on to have an undefeated night and give Team 5 the advantage.

The match looked all over and at 5-4 up Team 5’s best player, (on paper anyway) John, with a rating of nearly 600 took on Team 7’s lowest rated player, Kristian with a rating in the low 200s. It was obvious John was going to win, a win that would be good for the Club as it would keep Team 5 in contention at the top of the Division 4 Table. Hang on a minute – Kristian hadn’t read the script! Having just lost the first end 13-11, John (and the rest of Team 5) were perhaps a little annoyed when El Presidente had some words of wisdom for Kristian - has he not read the rule about having a nominated person to coach during change of ends! In fairness, the words of wisdom were merely encouragement for Kristian who then played his best TT of the season as he won the next two ends with some great attacking play and then led 10-8 in the fourth. Two match points, silence as the rest of the hall watched on, John’s teammates contemplating the unthinkable, George and Phil trying to hide the grins on their faces, El Presidente thinking about the repercussions and John facing a winless night! Did Kristian tighten up under the pressure – perhaps a little – John’s 85 years of experience brought him through 13-11 in the fourth end and he strolled the fifth, Kristian’s mind probably still on his missed opportunity. A cracking match and a 6-4 victory for Team 5. Millie was the star with 3 wins and a doubles victory whilst John and Stuart both picked up 1.
 
Finally in Week 7 Team 6 faced a trip to the pleasance to take on Edinburgh University 6 who in five matches played had been winless and had a game difference of 7 wins and 43 losses. What a match for Team 6 to concede! Injuries to Rachel Petrie and Brian Bailey kept them out, Louis had not diarised the date and had something else on, Craig was always unavailable for this match, George and Phil are not allowed to play up and Kristian was still lying down in a darkened room after his last match loss on Wednesday night. Poor Adam who was left on his own! Shambles comes to mind! The 10-0 concession has resulted in the Uni side jumping two places and being replaced at the bottom by??? Let’s not bother saying it!  
 
And so to our Player of the Week Award for Week 7. All of Team 1, Abby and Ian from Team 2 and Julian from Team 4 were all undefeated this week but really there is only one contender for this week’s award. Under a great amount of pressure and the team relying on her, Millie’s undefeated night was proof that not only has she got terrific ability but she has great mental strength – well done to her. 
 
And finally, our controversy of the week section. One of the new rules which we have touched on previously states:
 
“No team (other than EUTTC) shall be allowed more than one postponement request in each half of the season without the express consent of the Match Sub-Committee which consent will be given only should the request be the result of circumstances outwith the control of the requesting team.” 
 
Our Team 6 faced a dilemma this week. Rachel injured, Brian injured, Craig unavailable, Louis unavailable, two payers from team 7 not allowed to play up and the other two not available. Adam was ready to play. We have a team of 5 registered and two players beneath who can play up – does two injuries result in “circumstances outwith the control of the team??" Who knows? Clearly Brian and Rachel didn’t think so – they didn’t even bother trying to request a postponement. We’ll never know whether University would have consented to such or not? The point is that the mere existence of the rule led to the Team thinking there was no point in making a request and maybe that’s the intention of the rule – cut down on postponements and teams either have to play or concede? It does seem somewhat unfortunate though given the injury position. A further discussion which led from this was who was responsible for paying the fine in this scenario for a concession – what fine Team Captain Brian asked – his position, apparently backed up by someone on Committee is that a fine is only payable where not enough notice is given of a concession or a team fails to turn up – that’s not our reading of the rule:

“Should a team fail to play as scheduled when either insufficient (namely less than 24 hours) or no notice has been given to their opponents, or when a fixture is conceded, the fixture will be awarded 10-0 to the opposing team. Where insufficient or no notice has been given the offending team will be deducted one point. Such offences, and concessions, also shall be punished by fines, as under: first offence = £5; second offence = £10; third offence = £20 and, unless expressly waived by the Match Sub-Committee, a suspension of the team from the League for the remainder of the season.”
 
If fines are only applicable where no notice is given why do we need the words “or when a fixture is conceded” and then “such offences and concessions”. It seems clear to us that a concession, irrespective of when it’s given attracts an automatic fine. And indeed that seems to be the League’s position previously – we just have to look at past years where concessions have been fined (including our Team 2 last year). The real worry, if we are correct in this, is why when Brian asked about it was he told that no fine was payable? If a Committee Member doesn't know the rule how can we be expected to understand it? Never mind though, it gives us good grounds for our appeal against payment of the massive £5 penalty!

On we go to Week 8 already….

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ELTTL 2018/19 - Week 6 Report

21/10/2018

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Week 6 and it was time for the Handicap Cup. With four teams entered this year surely one of them would get a home draw? Nope! All four teams had to travel in Round 1.
 
After Selectors Craig & Greig found a random way to get them both in teams they liked, Team 1 ended up with Julian, Charlie and the aforementioned Craig and they faced a trip to Inverkeithing. With news of a blackout on the west side of Edinburgh knocking out all the traffic lights and long tail backs on the Queensferry Crossing things didn't look like getting off to the best possible start for Team1. Charlie, wondering what traffic Scotland were fretting about, had other ideas and made a leisurely traffic free journey to the Kingdom of Fife as he reminisced on the old Forth Road Bridge - £80 lighter in the pocket later he arrived in a bit of a bad mood! 
 
Julian (scratch) kicked off proceedings against Fife's Wes Smith (+7). With Wes' strong forehand and requiring only 4 points in each game Julian was in for an early battle. Playing a patient game Julian took his chances and clawing back the deficit took the first point for the visitors with a 3-1 win. Up next was Craig (+4) v Ian Wardrope (-3). With a 7-0 head start up to 14 Craig got off to a nervous start going down 2-0 before finally being able to return Ian's serves and keep his blocks and hits on the table to win the next two ends comfortably. The 5th end saw a return of some nerves for Craig and having recovered to only 10-9 down it looked like Ian was going to pull off the win only for Craig to win the final 4 points to win 14-9 and put Team1 2-0 ahead. Game 3 saw Charlie (-7) pitted against Fife's Neil Hoggan (+4) with Neil having an 11 point start to 18. Three runaway ends later and Neil left the visitors 2-1 up but scratching their heads and double checking the ELTTL handicap list to see if Neil's handicap was really meant to be -4!  
 
The next round of games saw Julian beat Ian 3-1, Charlie lose to Wes and Craig lose to Neil to leave the scores 3-3 going into the final 3 games. With Charlie losing a close game to Ian 3-1 the visitors were 4-3 down with the final two games to play. With time drawing in those final games were played on two tables. Julian played Fife's player of the night Neil whilst Craig played Wes. With Neil having a 4-0 advantage to 11 against Julian, the closest game of the night was played out with the ends see-sawing between the two players leaving it 2-2 going into the 5th end. Meanwhile on the other table, after losing the first end, Craig won the next two ends but then faced being 10-6 down in the 4th before winning the next 6 points to bring the game level at 4-4. Simultaneously and unaware of that result Julian found himself 10-6 down in the fifth. With the prospect of a solemn car journey back to Midlothian empty handed for the Penicuik trio, Julian dug deep and won the next 6 points to clinch a highly entertaining game 5-4!
 
Team 2 faced a trip to Murrayfield in their quest to reach Round 2. The random computer selection process had resulted in Gary McDougal and David Melrose being joined by Louis McLeod, who at +6 was identified as a potential match winner – and so it proved as Louis was undefeated on the night – Gary and David both added 1 as Team 2 recorded a solid 5-2 win. 
 
Team 3 meanwhile travelled to Bathgate to take on West Lothian 5. Abby Wighton (-5) was joined by Sonny Taylor (+3) and George Wilson (+4) in a tough looking match against a trio of Div 4 players. When Sonny, giving 3 of a start to Tommy Toner, lost in 3 quick ends it looked like it was going to be a difficult night for the visitors. Wins, however, for George and Abby were followed by a first win of the night for Sonny and suddenly a 3-1 lead for the Penicuik trio who looked in control. Tommy, however, had other ideas making a mockery of his +6 Handicap as he dispatched Abby 16-8, 16-8, 16-7 to bring the hosts back into the match. Game 6 was to prove crucial on the night. Bob Lander had lost out to George in the League in Week 5 and with a 2 point start surely George was a comfortable favourite. 12-10, 12-10 in the first two ends to Bob and youngsters Abby and Sonny were starting to panic. With the pressure on, George seemed to find another gear as he won the final 3 ends to 5, 4 and 6. With an 11 point start, Jordan then won his first match of the night against Abby to reduce the deficit to 1 before match 8 pitted Bob against Sonny. Tactically, the visitors were left wondering why WL had put their best player on paper (and in reality) to play games 1, 5 and 9 and they were made to pay for that as Sonny finished the match in 3 straight sets whilst the undefeated Tommy sat on the sidelines with a match still to play. 
 
That random Excel Generator Programme came up with Ian Hislop to join father and daughter McDonell in Team 4 (seemingly, it only took Craig 17 attempts to get Greig and Hannah in the same team)! They made a visit to Granton and with an 8pm start, the visitors (and no doubt Hannah’s mum in particular) were relieved to see that Granton could only field 2 players, Swang Shallangwa (Scratch) and Kevin Lawson (+4). Swang comfortably won match 1 v Hannah from 0-7 down but not to worry the Penicuik trio had a 3-0 start to defend. That then looked a decidedly dodgy lead as Ian then faced Kevin in a mammoth match. Ian is not known for his attacking prowess and despite Kevin having the ability to play some terrific positive shots, he decided to play a patient game and so there then followed what must be the longest match ever to have taken place at the home side’s venue (and thinking about it probably at any venue in the League)! With neither playing giving in to the pressure of those watching to do something different, the average rally length was between 40 and 50 strokes! Great consistency and concentration from both but in a match which started at 11-0 in a race to 18 by the time of the fifth end those watching just wanted it to end quickly! It was not to be as the last end went all the way to an 18-16 scoreline in favour of the dogged Ian. Hannah counted one rally that contained 72 pushes. By the time Greig and Swang took to the table (0-12 to 23) for the next match it was after 9.30pm! Having thought daughter Hannah had just not been playing well, Greig suddenly found out that Swang’s scratch handicap was very generous – he seemed to play better the closer Greig got to him – he took the first end 24-22 after having been caught at 20-20! Greig had to dig deep and in a terrific match where the Granton player showed a full array of attacking shots, Greig secured the win in the next three ends 23-19, 24-22, 23-20. A 5-1 victory given the three walkover wins (more on that subject later!) 
 
And so to our Player of the Week Award for Week 6. Louis and Julian were the only players to play a full three matches this week undefeated. But in a week where all 4 of our teams progressed to Round 2 of the Handicap Cup (and that we think is a first) this Week’s award has to go to the man who manipulated the random selection process – well done to Craig!! Oh Ok – on the table Julian’s three wins were crucial and the way in which he did it, coming back from the death (10-6 down in the 5th) to secure victory merits this week’s award – well done Julian. 
 
And finally, our controversy of the week section. 
 
Granton only had two players last week and so we thought the match would be fairly straightforward – only two wins needed, and we can all go home. Kevin Lawson had other ideas and put his “Mr Walkover” at position A on the card. We should have realised something was going on when the scorecard was altered from a 0-3 starting score to 0-1 after match 1 between Greig and Mr Walkover! By the time of match 5 on the scorecard Penicuik had won 2 matches on the night and with a 3-0 advantage the match was over. It was a bit of a surprise therefore when Ian & Greig went to shake hands with their opponents to be told that the match wasn’t over. According to Mr Lawson the scoreline after 5 games (Mr Walkover being down to play games 1, 5 and 9) was only 4-1 to Penicuik and the match needed to continue! What? Surely Mr L is not being serious, is he? Oh yes, he was. 2 walkover wins at matches 1 and 5, a victory each for Ian and Greig and one win for Swang – 4-1! Hold on – this must be a joke – if we played matches 6, 7 and 8 and lost them all Granton would have pulled level at 4-4 and Hannah was then due to play Mr Walkover in Match 9 – it was pointed out that it was impossible for Granton to win! Show me the rule where it says the match starts at 3-0 asks Mr Lawson. Oh my goodness this really was a serious debate. Ian H came up with the idea that we simply concede matches 6, 7 and 8 and then we could still go home victorious as 5-4 winners. By this time, it was nearly 10pm! In the end Team Captain Greig had to make a phone call to Handicap Cup Secretary, Mr Benjamin who fortunately answered his mobile! Kevin still wasn’t happy with what Ken was telling him again asking where the rules were which covered this scenario. Thankfully he eventually accepted that the match was over, and a 5-1 win was recorded on the scorecard and 11-year-old Hannah was in her bed for just after 11pm rather than into the next morning! How bizarre!
 
This week’s best comment also came from the Granton match. Realising he’d left his bat in his car, Greig asked the caretaker how he got out of the building to get back to the car park – “that door there will take you direct into the car park”, came the response – “I doubt your car will still be there though”! – that’s what TT is all about at our level – having a bit of fun. 
 
Back to the League next week among numerous requests from Club players that the League should be run on a handicap basis….



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ELTTL 2018/19 - Week 5 Report

14/10/2018

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Week 5 of the League Season was a busy one for the Club with six of our seven teams in action. 
 
In Division 1, Team 1 faced Edinburgh University at Ladywood and with team Captain Greig trying to preserve his average (sorry, we mean resting his shoulder injury) he was replaced by Colin Green. He was joined by David Melrose and Iain Johnstone against a tough looking Uni side. A crucial good start to the evening was provided by Ian who came back from 2-1 down to win 13-11 in the fifth against Edmund Lau. Colin then defeated Uni captain Yubo before match 3 saw the other 3 matches in the Hall almost come to a halt as a result of the noise coming from Table 1! At 2-0 up David was cruising against Dong Yan – somewhat vociferously cheered on from the sidelines, he found another gear and in a flash, David found himself 10-8 down in the fifth. David did remarkably well to maintain his composure as many around him were losing theirs as he recovered for a 12-10 win! The home side then won 2 of the next 3 to go 5-1 up going into the doubles. When David and Colin squeezed home in the fifth the match was over as a contest and further wins by that pair resulted in an 8-2 victory for the home team. Greig’s decision to play Colin was an inspired one as he was undefeated, ably supported by David and Iain who both won 2, both losing out to the vastly improved Yubo.
 
Team 2 faced only their second match of the season as they visited Murrayfield 5 in Division 1. Gary McDougal joined Krzysztof Laszkiewicz and Charlie Brindley in search of their first win of the season. The visitors held a 2-1 lead after the first round of singles with wins for Gary and Charlie and that pattern was repeated in the next three matches as the Midlothian trio took a 4-2 advantage into the doubles. But then things changed! A 5 set loss in the doubles was followed by a 5 set loss for Charlie as the match was brought level at 4-4. Match 9 saw yet another 5 set marathon and from 2-0 up Krys’ night got worse as he lost 11-9 in the fifth to Stella. Suddenly an unthinkable loss was on the cards. Fortunately for the visitors, Gary maintained his composure as he won the last match of the night to secure a 5-5 draw. A point lost or a point gained?? No doubt in Gary’s mind – the goal was wide open to secure a victory and the team fluffed it!
 
Team 3 were playing only their 3rd match of the season as they hosted a very strong looking Edinburgh International 3 in Division 2. This match saw the first appearance of the season of Chris Markey and he showed some good form with two good wins. Unfortunately, that was as good as it got for the home side as father and daughter Wighton drew blanks – James seemed preoccupied with plans for his few days holiday whilst Abby’s mind was on organising the party at her house while mum and dad were away! This Edinburgh International team are bound to be in the mix for promotion come the end of the season. 
 
Week 5 saw all of our Division 4 sides in action on the same night. At Ladywood, Team 5 faced University 6 in a very one-sided affair. Only two matches on the night went more than 3 ends as Craig Johnson, John Bald and Stuart Bennett sped their way to a 10-0 win.
 
Meanwhile, Team 6 managed to field a full side for the first time this season as Craig Linton, Louis McLeod and Adam Woodhouse travelled to Bathgate to take on West Lothian 8. Dave Stephen was the difference on the night, undefeated and winning two crucial 5th end matches including a 16-14 win v Louis. Craig, who had thought this League malarkey was easy found his 2nd outing tougher than his debut, losing two five-enders but holding his nerve to win 1. Adam was also unlucky on the night losing out 11-9 in the fifth to Tommy Toner. A 7-3 loss for the visitors but with six matches on the night going the distance this is one of those matches which could easily have gone the other way.  
 
Team 7’s Division 4 match against West Lothian 7 was closely monitored by Team 5 who had lost to the same Bathgate trio the previous week. George Wilson, Phil Daly and Hannah McDonell were in positive mood having picked up 3 out of 4 points in their last two matches but quickly found themselves 2-1 down on the night. Matches 4, 5 & 6 were to prove crucial to the outcome. First Hannah got the better of Ros Beck and her dodgy rubber, before George took care of John McLeod and that was followed by victory for Phil v Bob Lander. The West Lothian side were not finished, however, as the doubles went their way in five before John defeated Hannah and the scores were level at 4-4. When Phil defeated Ros, it was left to last week’s player of the week to secure a terrific win for the home side as he defeated Bob. A 12-10 win in the first end resulted in the loudest shout of the night by George (and that’s saying something given the shenanigans going in with University)! An excellent win for Team 7 brought just as much joy to Team 5 who, as a result, ended Week 5 in 2nd place in the Division.

And so to our Player of the Week Award for Week 5. Colin, Gary, John, Stuart, Craig and George were all undefeated in singles play. George has got to be in the running again for his 3 wins which pushed Team 7 over the line to victory. Gary’s three wins secured a 5-5 draw and the first point of the season for Team 2 – surely that undefeated night must put him into pole position. But for his week which started with a National Vets Win in the over 50s and finished with a controlled and undefeated night which set the tone for a good victory, well done to Colin (and to Greig for picking him!)
 
And finally, our controversy of the week section. On Wednesday at Ladywood, it seemed that University turned up to prove a point to Penicuik that they are promotion candidates. To say they were fired up is an understatement. It all kicked off in Match 3 as a scene, never before witnessed at Ladywood, unfolded. There’s nothing wrong with encouragement from the sidelines and from 2-0 down, Don Yang was certainly benefited as he roared back to 2-2. That encouragement, however, involved arms waving in the air, loud cheering (almost singing) and constant chat as points were being played. There is no doubt that this was affecting David. It resulted in the offending party being asked by our Club Coach, Tom, to move from the playing area to behind the TT barriers. The encouragement continued and at 10-8 down in the fifth, David was mid toss on his serve when more encouragement was shouted from behind the barriers. He stopped, looked around at the offending party and left the ball to fall to the floor. Club Coach Tom then became further involved in an exchange which brought about some utterly unnecessary behaviour from University, causing others to come from the other half of the Hall to see what all the commotion was about. Poor Ian was umpiring the match and eventually when calmness descended, he played a let for the interruption. David came back to win 12-10 amid the mayhem and his yelp of joy at the end was probably understandable. 
 
The Uni position which continued to be put to Tom (and anyone else who cared to listen) after the match was that if he had ever attended an ITTF event this type of behaviour went on all the time. They couldn’t understand why some grown up 40 something male couldn’t cope with it. It was left to Colin to try and calm the situation down (that’s the first time that’s ever been said about our aggressive Aussie) by pointing out that there is perhaps a slight difference between a crowd of 10,000 in Düsseldorf watching the World Championships and a match at a Leisure Centre in Penicuik on a Wednesday night in October in the second tier of the Edinburgh League!! One of the best responses of the night came from David as he heard himself being referred to as a big 40 something baby when he clarified that he was actually 54! 
 
In fairness, after the match had threatened to boil over order was restored and the second half of the evening passed quietly. At the end of the night a shake of hands and an apology of sorts for behaviour which we think was recognised as having been out of order. The off the table antics detracted from what was a cracking match – all-out attack from a very capable University side which certainly left those watching being in no doubt that they truly may be contenders for promotion by the end of the season. And in their Team Captain, possibly one of the most improved players, as he went on to show a couple of nights later when he played up in the Premier and won 2 against NM 1. It was just a pity that things got out of hand and effected other matches which were taking place in the hall. 
 
One of the matches affected was Team 7's game v West Lothian - by far the best intervention of the night came from Team 7 Captain George who came over during the raucous behaviour to point out to a University member that their language needed to be reined in – there was a child in his team who could hear all the bad language – none other than El Presidente’s 11 year old daughter – George could have perhaps phrased his request in a slightly better manner than:

“Watch your ******* language – there’s a young kid over here – your behaviour is ******* outrageous!” 
 
What a night…… 

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ELTTL 2018/19 - Week 4 Report

7/10/2018

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Week 4 of the ELTTL Season saw five of our seven teams in action.

In Division 1, Greig McDonell retained his place at the expense of Colin Green, only because Colin couldn't be bothered travelling to Fife (have we asked before which part of Edinburgh & Lothians Inverkeithing is located in)? He teamed up with David Melrose & Iain Johnstone as they faced Fife 2. Team 1's job was made easier by the absence of the Fife Team's number 1, Lance Stockdale. Only two matches on the night went beyond 3 ends, David defeating Steve Dow 3-1 and Iain losing out 3-1 to Steve McKay as the visitors recorded a 9-1 victory.

On the same night at Ladywood, Team 4 took to the table fresh from a 10-0 win against University. Regular father and son duo, Julian & Sonny Taylor were joined by Gavin Hunter, making his first appearance since the 2015/16 season. The visitors in this Division 3 encounter were Haddington 3. When Sonny lost the first match of the night and Julian found himself 2-0 down in Match 2 it looked like Team 4 were in serious trouble. A good comeback to win in 5 for Julian was unfortunately then followed by a loss for Gavin and another defeat for Sonny. Team Captain Julian kept the home side in with a shout with another win before a crucial Match 6 saw Gavin battle hard but lose out in 5 tight ends. Father and son then combined well in the doubles to reduce the deficit to 4-3. When Julian completed an excellent night for himself with a five end win in match 8 the scores were tied at 4-4. Having not played for almost 3 years, it is to Gavin's credit that he had already had 9 ends in his first two matches and he was very unlucky to lose out 11-9 in the fifth to his opposite number. A draw was still on the cards as Sonny took to the table for the last match of the night but he appeared somewhat out of sorts as a 4 end defeat resulted in a 4-6 loss for Team 4.

In the other side of the Hall, Team 6's dreadful and stuttering start to the season continued. A free week in Week 1 was followed by an injury to Brian Bailey in Week 2 causing him to withdraw. That was followed by a postponement in Week 3 because of injuries to both Brian & Rachel and Week 4 saw this pool of 5 unable to field a team from their own number as Craig was on holiday - it would be Ok though because Kristian from Team 7 was going to play up - Oops a double booking for him left the two youngsters of Louis McLeod & Adam Woodhouse to host West Lothian 9. With 3 players this was surely a match which could have seen a win for the home side. As it was Louis had a good night, undefeated in singles play but those were the only victories as the home side fell to a 7-3 defeat. Maybe Week 5 will see Team 6 actually complete a match with a full team!

Also in Division 4, Team 5 made the opposite trip along the M8 as they took on West Lothian 7 at Bathgate. With Millie unavailable it was a first outing of the season for John Bald, refreshed from his travels, as he joined regulars Stuart Bennett and Craig Johnson. Team 5 had made an excellent start to the season with 3 consecutive 6-4 victories but this match was to prove a tougher test for the visitors. The match was played out of order from the scorecard for some reason and involved some long matches - having played on two tables all night, the doubles played last still only got started at about 10pm! With neither Stuart nor Craig able to trouble the scorers, John's undefeated night for his new team was a mere consolation as Team 5 fell to a 7-3 defeat. Four five end tussles were shared and the high point for Penicuik was John coming back from 10-6 down in the 5th v Ros to win 12-10. 

Finally in Week 4, Team 7 faced a trip to East Lothian as they took on Haddington 4. George Wilson, Phil Daly & Hannah McDonell were looking to build on the Team's good performance against Haddington 5 the previous week where they had recorded a 5-5 draw. They knew this was, on paper, a tougher match but when George started off with a terrific win against the highly rated Jordan Roderick there was a belief that the visitors may be able to cause an upset. A win for Phil and a defeat for Hannah was then followed by 3 terrific singles wins for the visitors who held a 5-1 lead going into the doubles. George bemoaned his travelling coach for abandoning him & Hannah in that doubles match as he went for some much needed practice and the Haddington side stayed in the match with a 5 end victory. Matches 8 & 9 on the night were played simultaneously, George v the yet to win, Duncan and Hannah v Jordan. As Hannah went 2-0 down to Jordan, George somehow managed to lose his first end and the unthinkable was on the cards. However, as George pushed his way to a gruelling 4 set win, Hannah & Jordan produced some high quality attacking play with neither of them willing to back off. In a brilliant match, Hannah turned the game on it's head to win in 5 terrific ends. Phil claimed as his reason for losing Match 10 that he was still tired from umpiring that match! A well deserved 7-3 victory for Team 7.

​And so to our Player of the Week for Week 4. Undefeated in singles play this week were Greig, David, Julian, Louis, John & George. Greig, David & Julian were undefeated in doubles play so Louis, George and John are out of the running! Julian was on the losing side and lost 4 ends in singles - sorry Julian that's your chances gone! So a straight fight between David & Greig - only Greig didn't lose an end this week so the clear winner is..... Hold on a minute - our other Committee members have said we can't simply ignore the importance of George's undefeated night for his Team's win and that seems fair - even although he didn't win the Player of the Match Award, for setting the tone with a terrific opening win on the night and battling through undefeated, this week's award goes to George - well done to him!!

And finally Week 4 saw a couple of controversial moments on the table. Picture the scene at Ladywood, Louis v young Jamie Toner - 2 sets all, tight in the deciding 5th set, Jamie leading 7-5 when our home team umpire shouts let in the middle of a rally. Bemusement as everyone looks for an errant ball that's come in to the playing area - nope nothing to be seen - Umpire then announces the score as 7-6 - he's forgotten what the score was - eh no, it appears that during the rally young Jamie has nudged and moved the table whilst playing a shot! Oh dear - a bit harsh according to the West Lothian side. Jamie went on to fall 9-7 behind before recovering to 10-10 - to rub it in, however, Louis then won the next two points with the assistance of a net and an edge!! It was suggested by WL that maybe a warning would have been appropriate or having called the word "Let" a let should have been played. The most astonishing thing to us is that the Umpire was on the ball with the rules and his eyesight - 

In terms of Rule 2.10.1.9 a point is scored against you..... if an opponent, or anything an opponent wears or carries, moves the playing surface.

We have to agree with our opponents though that this seems harsh but the rules are the rules......

And finally what about the standards of behaviour of players? We all face players who can sometimes get angry/frustrated with themselves. Indeed probably most of us have been that player. Language can sometimes be a bit choice, throwing a bat down or slapping your leg with the bat is another classic. What about kicking out at a barrier - this was commented upon by one of our opposing teams this week. We suppose it's better than some of the verbals that are commonplace in some matches. Is that acceptable behaviour? Frustration can make people do some silly things - just ask Mr Melrose's fist - the mark is still there from his confrontation with the wall last season - at least with a TT barrier you know who's going to come off best!!

On we go to Week 5 - a fifth of the way through the season already - Wow, how time flies when you're having fun!

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    Penicuik TTC

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